March 2013

My wife and I will be on a tourist visit to Washington DC next month and have scheduled a visit with our Senator (Cantwell). We have never visited the capital before and although our visit will primarily be as a tourist, I would like to throw at least one or two questions to Senator Cantwell. However I am not sure of the protocol or even how much time we will be given. She offers a “Constituent Coffee” prior to tour of the Capitol building .

We are the first and the biggest nuclear weapons maker in the world. We had best not use those weapons by exploding them. But the history is awful and its consequences will be with us for a very long time. The major nuclear accidents, beyond those that were planned, like open air testing, and deployment in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and unethical releases at Hanford, are the whole world wide array of unsafe light water uranium reactors. And the big piles of long lived high level radioactive waste.

“Cyprus: The European Union acted destructively – and self-destructively – when it tried to seize a portion of the insured savings accounts of the citizens of Cyprus. They were telling anyone with a savings account in the financially troubled nations of the Eurozone: Forget your guaranteed deposits. If we need your money in order to bail out the big banks – banks which have already gambled recklessly with it – we’ll take it.”

How many people have died in wars the United States has prosecuted since WW2? It difficult to count. War kills people in many ways. They die directly in combat or as civilian deaths due to military action, or they may have died of more indirect causes. Its a complicated picture that requires lengthy study. Many scholars and institution have performed much research to find answers to the question. A low estimate is somewhat above one million for the Vietnam War.

I live in Bremerton, Wa. The Big Picture schedule is not listed correctly since Daylight saving time. It is now the same time as Breaking the Set. I am confused and so is my DVR. I miss a lot of programs. Comcast doesn't like me to watch Thom's program.